To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what have been the trends in employment since 1983.

Since 1983 the United Kingdom work force in employment has been on a rising trend. In September 1989, the latest date for which information is available, the work force in employment was 26,955,000. This represents an increase of 3,391,000 or 14 per cent. since March 1983 when the figure was 23,564,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list (a) the unemployment rate for Scotland, (b) the male unemployment rate for Scotland, (c) the female unemployment rate for Scotland, (d) the unemployment rate for England, (e) the south-east of England and (f) the full-time employment rate for Scotland as at (i) October 1964, (ii) March 1966, (iii) June 1970, (iv) February 1974, (v) October 1974, (vi) May 1979, (vii) June 1983 and (viii) June 1987.

The extent of the available information is contained in the following table, all of which is available from the Library. Unemployment on a seasonally adjusted consistent basis at regional level is unavailable prior to April 1974. Employment estimates at regional level are not split between full and part-time.